That same day, President Donald Trump threatened to cut off aid to Honduras — tweeting that the U.S.' continued assistance was contingent upon authorities stopping the caravan. He later issued the same threat to Guatemala and El Salvador.

President Trump similarly said he'd cut off economic aid to Honduras earlier this year in response to another caravan of migrants traveling to the U.S. The majority of those migrants did not end up crossing the border.

The U.S. is slated to give almost $181 million in foreign assistance to the three Central American countries during the 2019 fiscal year.

The White House can't cut that foreign aid without the help of Congress, but it can reroute existing funding, unless Congress has specified otherwise.